Control systems are used to manage, command, and regulate the operation and behavior of other devices and/or systems. Control systems may be included in all sorts of fields/facilities such as power plants, aircrafts, trains, manufacturing, industrial processes, electronics, and the like. Legacy control system components (e.g., applications, subsystems, etc.) are traditionally programmed individually and subsequently integrated with the emphasis of solution level architecture and coordination between the components falling on human integrators. These systems typically include a plurality of components running within the system.
During the initial programming phase, the components of a control system do not interact with one another as they are not yet integrated with the rest of the system. However, once integrated into the larger system, interactions occur between the components. Initially, the components may be designed with certain interactions in mind, however, because systems are dynamic there is a possibility of unexpected interactions occurring, for example, interactions which cannot be planned for or which are difficult to foresee. As a result of these interactions, the system may not perform as expected causing the system to become unpredictable. That is, because the control system components are designed and integrated separately, they may not be fully compatible with the other components in a dynamic system. Also, each time a new component is added to the control system the entire system needs to be retested to determine whether the control system operates properly.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated or adjusted for clarity, illustration, and/or convenience.